


Caged Bird

by Ailarii



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn, Sort Of, i'll add more as chapters come out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 03:06:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12596772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailarii/pseuds/Ailarii
Summary: As king, Oikawa Tooru gets what he wants, and he is determined to have the beautiful creature his men brought back to him from the wilderness.





	Caged Bird

**Author's Note:**

  * For [myn_x](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myn_x/gifts).



There isn’t a child in Acessa that didn’t grow up hearing the tales of the creatures that live in the wetlands at the far edges of the kingdom -- the Synths. Tales of animals that can transform into radiant human forms to entice and trick people long enough to… well, no one could ever actually agree on  _ what _ the Synths did with humans after they got ahold of them, but they knew it whatever it was couldn’t be good.

Still, that didn’t stop the curiosity that fizzled every few years among the townsfolk. 

“Mindless gossip,” the King’s advisors would reassure him every time the subject came up again. “Even if they existed, they died off years ago. Where’s the proof, Your Grace?”

Proof, yes. That was always the tricky part. Oikawa had been fascinated by the Synths since his mother told him about them as a child, and he wanted to believe. But  _ proof _ , yes, even he couldn’t deny that was important. 

The next time the topic of the strange beings comes up, Oikawa decides, to hell with it.

“Send someone to find it then.”

His advisors are taken aback for a moment, but recover quickly enough.

“Your Grace? You can’t mean to send men out looking for a fairytale,” one of them says.

“I can, and I am,” Oikawa replies easily. “What else is there to do with my men during a time of peace like this?”

“I don’t know,” Oikawa’s right hand, Iwaizumi, speaks up, “Maybe keep them here in case something happens? Like a  _ smart _ ruler?”

Oikawa rolls his eyes. “I’m not going to send the whole army looking for one Synth, Hajime. Do you think your king to be stupid?”

Iwaizumi opens his mouth to speak but quickly thinks better of it and groans. “Hanamaki, please tell him this is stupid.”

Hanamaki hums, thinking, before shrugging at Iwaizumi helplessly. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Iwaizumi. We are in fact in a time of peace and I can’t see why sending even two dozen men would be a disadvantage to us.”

“Besides,” another man, Matsukawa, interjects, “Can’t you imagine how the people would react? ‘Great King Oikawa Tooru sends men in search of creature that has terrorized his people for generations!’ They would love him for that.”

“They  _ already _ adore him,” Iwaizumi says, putting the heel of his palm to his eyes.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Synths don’t  _ exist _ !” Iwaizumi says as if it’s obvious.

“Of course they do, Hajime,” Oikawa says.

“And even if they are made up, would this not put the people’s minds to rest?” Matsukawa says. “Many of them are truly afraid of the idea of Synths.”

“That’s a fair point,” Hanamaki agrees.

Iwaizumi looks around at the three of them, all smiling and smug, and has to remind himself to not rip his own hair out. “Fine,” he throws his hands in the air. “Fine, send a dozen men to the wetlands. Why not?”

Oikawa smiles and nods. “It is decided then. Next on the agenda for today?”

Iwaizumi leans down to pull a large book up onto the table. “Finances.”

Oikawa groans and leans back into his chair. “Fantastic.”

 

~

 

Ten months later, Oikawa can honestly say he forgot about mission he’d sent his men on. While he had hoped they’d return with  _ something _ , he also knows it’s more likely they won’t. So, he forgets. He forgets and he rules his kingdom and keeps his people as happy as he can and deals with the tedious politics he never truly wanted any part in.

And then a letter comes saying that his men are returning, and they found something. They found someone in the deep, darker parts of the lakes and they’re bringing it back. Bringing  _ him _ back.

Oikawa had forgotten about the mission and now he can’t wait the three weeks it’s going to take for them to return.

 

~

 

Oikawa had only gloated to Iwaizumi for a day.

Okay, maybe two. Three days tops. They’re both mature adults with important jobs and lives to lead so Oikawa only gloats for a few days after they find out the soldiers are bringing back what they are pretty sure is a Synth.

Iwaizumi is still skeptical, but agrees that he’ll become a believer if they actually produce the fabled creature.

“I doubt it’ll actually be anything of consequence,” Iwaizumi tells Oikawa the day before the men are supposed to arrive.

“What else could it be? You read the letter they sent,” Oikawa reminds him.

The letter had of course relayed when the men would be returning, but it also included as much detail as could be given about the being they captured. It’s said to be something the men saw transform from a swan into a man. They say he shedded a cloak of feathers and walked onto the land like nothing of note had just happened. Oikawa had been convinced, but of course Iwaizumi needed something more than that.

“If that’s what they actually saw, fine. But it’s the validity of their statement that I’m questioning here,” Iwaizumi says. “They’ve been out there for  _ months _ , Tooru. Who knows what kind of tricks that swamp has been playing on their minds this whole time?”

Oikawa scoffs. “They’ve been out of the wetlands for weeks. If they’d gone mad they would have recovered from it by now and sent a letter.”

Iwaizumi shrugs. “Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”


End file.
